Butkus Award | Official
Site
The Butkus Award, instituted in 1985, has been given
annually to the top linebacker in college football.
The Award, named in honor of Pro Football Hall of Fame
linebacker Dick Butkus, is regarded as one of the elite
individual in college football.

2003 | Teddy Lehman

Teddy Lehman was named the Butkus Award winner as the most outstanding linebacker in college football in 2003. OU has more Butkus Awards (four) than any other school. Rocky Calmus won the trophy in 2001 and Brian Bosworth won the first two awards presented in 1985 and 1986.

Lehman led the team with 117 tackles, including 63 solo, with two sacks and one interception. The Ft. Gibson, Okla., native also had a team-high 19 tackles for loss (47 yards) and forced a fumble.

Lehman was the leader of Oklahoma's top-ranked defense, helping the Sooners advance to the National Championship game in the Sugar Bowl against LSU.

Lehman was the pick over Texas' Derrick Johnson and Miami's Jonathan Vilma. The winner was determined by a vote of 28 national media members and announced at the Downtown Athletic Club in Orlando.

Career
Statistics

Season

UT

AT

TT

TFL

INT

FF-FR

PBU

2000

7

4

11

3-10

0-0

0-0

0

2001

59

30

89

12-53

1-2

0-3

4

2002

85

27

112

17-47

2-51

1-2

7

2003

63

54

117

19-47

1-0

1-0

6

Totals

214

115

329

51-157

5-53

2-5

17

2001 | Rocky Calmus

Only a few players define their position, but that is precisely what Rocky Calmus meant to college football.

As a senior, he won the Dick Butkus Award as the nation's top linebacker, but also was a finalist for the Nagurski and Bednarik Awards as the nation's best defender and the Lombardi Award as the country's top interior player.

His senior year total of 117 tackles vaulted him into Oklahoma's top five career tacklers and capped an incredible career. As a junior, he was named the toughest player in college football by The Sporting News during the Sooners' 2000 national championship season.

OU's all-time leader in tackles for a loss by a linebacker, Calmus was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press and was a finalist for the Butkus Award.

A first-team All Big 12 selection in each of his last three seasons, Calmus led the squad in tackles in each of those years. Calmus played through several injuries during his career including a fractured bone in his leg and a broken thumb.

He was drafted in the third round of the 2002 draft by the Tennessee Titans.

Career
Statistics

Season

UT

AT

TT

TFL

INT

FF-FR

PBU

1998

30

25

55

11-38

0-0

2-0

1

1999

73

40

113

14-29

1-0

0-1

7

2000

64

61

125

17-61

1-41

2-3

7

2001

72

45

117

15-48

1
-33

0-2

9

Totals

239

171

410

57-176

3-74

4-6

24

1985,
1986 | Brian Bosworth

Brian Bosworth was a consensus All-American in both 1985 and 1986. One of the greatest college football players of all time, he set the school record for tackles in a game with 22 against Miami in 1986.

The only collegian ever to win the Butkus Award twice, he led the Sooners in tackles during 1984-86 along with being named All-Big Eight each of those years.

Also an excellent student, the "Boz" was a GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-American in 1986.

Taken in the 1987 supplemental draft by Seattle, Bosworth signed the richest contract in Seahawk history signing for 10 years for $11 million. He was moved to the weak side, even though he had spent his entire career on the strong side to make all the defensive calls. A shoulder injury forced him to retire after three years in the league.

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